Critters

Kittens!

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I did a walk around the yard, picking up the larger twigs and branches that have come down in the wind.  I was about to head into the house when Beep Beep came over.  Normally, she comes right over for pets, but this time, she wouldn’t let me touch her, and went along the front of the house, which has the door we don’t use.  Thinking she might be more comfortable and come over if I didn’t move too much, I sat on the concrete steps while she lounged behind a bush next to them.

Then she disappeared.

I couldn’t figure out where she went, until I heard a little mmmrrr?  behind me.  Getting up I looked around, then saw her peeking at me from between the concrete steps and the basement wall under the door.

I had no idea there was space back there!  Certainly not enough for her to come through on the side I was looking in.  I walked around and sure enough, there’s a larger gap on the other side.

She came out again, but wouldn’t come near me.  Instead, she lay down on the ground behind the bush again, so I sat down.

Then, suddenly, there were kittens with her!

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I dangled my fingers over the edge of the concrete for a bit, and the tabby went for them, then disappeared behind the stairs.  The tuxedo wouldn’t come close, but was curious.

I think there is a fairly large opening under the stairs.  Not hollow, but not completely solid, either.

I saw two kittens, but when Beep Beep was rolling around, giving herself a dust bath, later on, I could see that she had three lactating teats.  So there is probably a third kitten under there!

Now we just need to figure out where Butterscotch took her babies.  I am still thinking they might be in the threshing machine.

We will then have the “onerous” task of socializing them. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Red Sided Garter Snake!

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We saw our first snake of the year!!

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Can you spot it in the greenery?

Thankfully, it moved and stayed in a spot I could get better pictures of it. :-D  (There IS a red stripe along its sides; honest!)

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Garter snakes are awesome to have around, because they eat insects, mice – even leeches. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Manitoba‘s famous Narcisse Snake Dens, either in May, when they first come out of hibernation, or September, when they return to the dens, I would highly recommend it.  There are dens in Saskatchewan and Alberta, too, but none as extensive as in Narcisse.  Sadly, people sometimes destroy the dens, thinking the snakes are some sort of pest, which they most certainly are not!

Judging from the size of this one, it might be a female.  They are quite a bit bigger than the males.

I am so happy to see it, and I hope to see more!

The Re-Farmer

A bit blustery out there!

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First up, here are a couple of bird photos for you to enjoy. :-)

My husband got this purple finch at the feeder not long ago.

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And I finally got a blue jay picture!

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The blue jays have a habit of taking off before I can get to the camera, so these days, it’s a challenge to get any pictures of them at all.

This was another indoor day, for the most part.  There were plenty of storm warnings for the southern province which, for us, translated to rain early in the morning, and now high winds.  I had to go into town to pick up some prescription refills, and made a point of checking the yard out before I left.  There were a few downs branches that were of little concern.  In the areas of the maple grove I haven’t cleaned yet, I found myself looking at some branches and wondering, is that new?  Or what that already there?

About the only good thing right now is the wind direction.  If one of the trees by the house does come down, it’ll be fall away from the roof, instead of on it.  Though, looking out my window at the trees behind the storage house, it’s the opposite.  At least that building is empty and has no power.

Speaking of which…

The second tree care company came by on Monday, and I got the estimate emailed to me last night.  It’s basically the same as the first company; $1500.  Looking over our budget (barring any unexpected expenses), we should be able to get it done in November.  Choosing the company is going to be a bit more difficult; they’re pretty equal in every tangible sense.  One also does yard work and landscaping, which I would want to keep in mind for the future.  The other does trees and nothing else.

So we have some talking to do and a decision to make.  I’m just glad it’s something we can get done before winter, instead of waiting until spring.  Though if we get some sort of cash infusion (like the shares the housing co-op we moved away from still owes us!), it would be good to get it done earlier.

The Re-Farmer

Beep Beep and views

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As the girls and I headed out to the city, Beep Beep came out to see us off.

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Beep Beep is pretty much the only one of the outside cats we are seeing regularly.  Every time I see her, I am amazed by how little she is!  Just fur and bones!

During the drive to and from the city, we saw many beautiful fields of canola in full bloom.

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Gorgeous!

We even saw some cranes just half a mile from our place this morning, some pelicans flying over as we were leaving the city on a different route, and a herd of bison, with their little ones, on the final leg home.

Pretty awesome. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Critters, and technical difficulties

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First up, I want to share a couple of photos from our living room camera.

This one was taken a few days ago.  With the birdseed running out, there have been much fewer visitors of late.  Which means that, of the ones that do show up, they are less active and easier to get photos of. :-)

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While doing our Costco shopping, I made sure to pick up a bag of mixed bird seed.  I even figured out how to pop the roof off of the bird feeder, so I could fill it.  I also added some seed to the platform part of the stand.

The birds haven’t really rediscovered it yet, but this squirrel did!

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I know squirrels aren’t supposed to be good for feeders, as they eat so much of the seeds, but I really like these guys.  They take cat or dog kibble, too.  Back when this place still had a wood burning furnace, when it was time to gather wood from the big pile outside to throw into the basement, we would sometimes uncover a cache of kibble that the squirrels had hidden in the logs. :-D

My dad really liked the squirrels, too.  Sometimes, he would sit on the concrete steps out the main entry and lie back in the sun and fall asleep.  At least once, he woke up to find a squirrel on his chest, checking him out!

With another scorcher predicted for today, I headed out early to try and mow the lawn.  I don’t like working with loud equipment in the morning, but I wanted to get it done before things got too hot.  I got most of the lawn done, and was just doing the last couple of bits around the main garden, when I ran out of gas.  After refilling it, the mower wouldn’t start.

While I was trying to get it started, I jostled the fuel line filter, and it popped off!  I got it back on again, then got a screwdriver to loosen the clamp, push the filter nozzle as far in as I could, then tightened it again.  Then I went back to trying to start the mower.

No go.  Literally.

I ended up pushing the mower all the way back to the garage.  My daughters and I headed into town in the afternoon, then back again soon after we returned (but for good reasons… ;-) ), so I wasn’t able to try again until almost evening.

It started beautifully.

I guess it just needed a rest!

I finished the last bit of lawn.  Though it took me maybe 15 minutes to do it, it was about 30C out there, and wow am I glad I started early in the morning, when it was still relatively cool!

But at least that’s done, now.

And that’s the extent of outside work for today!!  Looking at the forecast, it looks like early mornings, or late evenings, are going to be the only times we’ll be getting outside work done for at least the next two weeks.

The Re-Farmer

Good Moooorning!

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So my darling husband (picture me speaking with a rictus grin) cheerfully comes traipsing into the bedroom and wakes me up with a “so, are there supposed to be cows in the yard?”

What a way to be awakened!

No.  There are not supposed to be cows in the yard.

He had been hearing the cows mooing and thought to himself, that sounds awfully close.

Then looked out the window.

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That’s not good!

By the time I put my glasses on, they were at the opposite end of the yard, by the fire pit.  When I got outside, there were no longer any cows in our yard, but there were several just outside the barbed wire gate at the fire pit.

I closed the gate.

I could see from the gate the the electric gate at the cow fence was in place, so before we closed the other gates, I went over by the barn, where the second electric gate is.

Sure enough, the wire was down, looking like something went right through it, dragging it into the tall grass on our side of the fence.

That left us with the task of closing up the vehicle gate, and the people gate.

Problem.

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Yeah.  The pole was still there.

Moving a 30 ft pole is awkward, to say the least.  It wasn’t just getting it clear of the opening, but clearing the swing arc of the gate.  So there was a whole lot of rolling and pivoting, but it wasn’t enough.  He really shouldn’t have, but my husband was able to pull it a few feet away from the yard (yeah, I helped, but really… I wasn’t doing much) and it got rolled clear.

This is the first time we’ve closed these gates since we’ve moved here.

*sigh*

They’re broken.

On the vehicle gate, one side isn’t too bad, but had to be lifted to close.  It shouldn’t need to be lifted.  The other was off the top hinge and we weren’t able to put it back at the time (I will need to go back with a tool kit), but we swung it closed.

They are supposed to be able to latch together.

They don’t.

But we could at least sit the parts on top of each other and let gravity to the rest.

*sigh*

Then there’s the people gate.  I had been wondering why there was a bungee cord on the chain link fence.

Now I know why.

The latch parts don’t latch anymore.  So the bungee is used to keep it from swinging open on its own.

After phoning the renter and leaving a message for him (with apologies for calling so early), I went around the yard, just in case we missed a cow in the bushes or something, then went to see what was going on.

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There were 6 altogether; 2 cows and 4 steers.  The rest of the cattle were on the other side of the fence near the electric gate.

I decided not to try and get them out.  They can graze all they want and, at some point, they may well wander back towards the barn and join the rest of the herd.

Granted, the rest of the herd might end up on the wrong side of the fence, too.  But I’m not too worried about it.  They can keep our grass down.

Now.  I wonder if I can get another hour or two of sleep…

The Re-Farmer

The Squirrel. Sees us.

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My daughter got some pictures of a squirrel at our feeder stand today.

It would go up onto the platform, then stretch out to catch the bottom of the hanging planter, pull it closer, then climb onto it.

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It saw my daughter taking pictures.

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Now, there’s a face that can haunt dreams! :-D

Sure doesn’t seem happy with being watch, that’s for sure. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Birds and Buck

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I moved the bird feeder stand closer to the house last night.  Here are a couple of pictures I got this morning.  (click on the images to see the larger version)

This evening, while heading out to pick up my daughter from work, we saw a deer on the road, then another dashing across when we were almost home.

What I didn’t expect was to see one outside our window!  We got a visit from a young buck, and there was enough light out still that I was able to get a few shots.

When I first saw it, it was coming through the tall grass in the main garden.  It stayed and grazed by an apple tree, before making its way over towards the house.  Then it started enthusiastically eating some elm leaves!  It was here for only a short time when something startled it, mid chomp, and off it ran.

The deer are so much more brightly coloured, this time of year.  This guy is all legs! :-D

I am so happy to still be seeing them in the yard, and to actually get some pictures, too! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Father’s Day is for the birds!

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A Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there!  Especially to my wonderful husband.  Thank you for all you do for us. <3

My husband has front row views of the bird feeders out our living room window, and has been getting some photos, as well.  He got a bunch from yesterday.

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The feeders had masses of goldfinches on them for the past while, with the occasional nuthatch popping by.  Yesterday, they were outnumbered by another bird.  I’d thought they were some of the ones we’ve been seeing for a while, until I could see the yellow in their wings.

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From what I’ve been able to find, they are pine siskins – and they sure love the platform feeder!

This morning, the crowd of them was back.  Just as I was getting up to take some photos, they got chased away by this guy…

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Finally, I was able to get a good photo of a blue jay!  For the past while, I’ve found myself wondering if they can somehow feel the camera’s sensor, because as soon as I try to focus on them, they fly off. :-D

I am thinking of looking over the area in front of the living room window to see if there is level ground closer to the house I can move the feeder to, so we can see them better without having to zoom in so much with the camera. :-)

The Re-Farmer